Another World: Life After Death
by MJ4
Summary: Based after Doomsday: Rose Tyler died. So what could possibly happen to her after that? rated for later chapters
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all affiliated trademarks are the property of the BBC and BBC World Wide. No profit or material gain is being provided to the author (except having people read, and hopefully enjoy his writing, come on people, that's why we're all here!!)**

Another World: Life After Death

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My name is Rose Tyler and I am officially dead.

I died when a war consumed the planet Earth. I died when millions of others died, lives blinked out in an instant when the planet was plunged into a war of survival it could not win, a war that was to be fought by two enemies each of whom would destroy the very people that lived on the planet in order to guarantee their own survival. A war that was ultimately won because of the intervention of a man, a man not of this Earth, but nonetheless a man. A man who wanders the universe, alone.

My name is Rose Tyler and I am officially dead, yet here I am and unlike all those others who died, I survived, taken, dragged into another world, an alternative world, another Earth, but Earth nonetheless. For six months I have lived here now, a strange life. Few on this world know of the pain, the suffering, carried out on that other world, that other Earth, my Earth. Yet here I am living this stolen life. I live with my Mother, thankfully saved from that other world, though if things had happened as they were supposed to, as I had intended, then I would not be here with her.

I live with my Father, yet he is not mine. My Father died some 19 years ago, when I was very young. I cradled his head in my arms as his life slipped away from his body, cried over him, kissed his forehead in sorrow, yet I now live with the man who is the same as the one that died, my Father though he has no children, for here in this world I was never born. In this world the woman who was his wife, would have been my Mother, died three years ago, changed into a heartless, emotionless metal zombie. Yet we live together, Mother, Father and Daughter, from two different, yet similar, worlds, together at last.

I live in this strange, yet familiar world. I wake every morning and can almost believe that I am truly home, that nothing has happened, that my life was just a dream. Then I look out of my window and I see the Zeppelins float by, ponderous yet strangely graceful, and am snapped back to reality. This is not my world, merely an adopted home that I can never leave. I look around my adopted room, almost as large as my Mums old flat, and I know that it is not my home.

I wash and dress in my en suite bathroom before going downstairs to eat breakfast with my Mum and 'Dad', a breakfast steadfastly and perfectly prepared by our hired cook, a lovely, cheerful rotund woman – why are so many home hired cooks tubby and nearly always happy? - who no matter how much I ask, beg, for her not to do these things for me she does them with a happiness and contentedness I wish I felt.

Once breakfast is over I kiss my Mum on her cheek and leave for work with my 'Dad' and do things that most people would never dream possible. I work with hundreds of people, researching, fixing and using alien artefacts and technology. The people there, mostly, know who I am, where I'm from yet treat me as if I was no different from any other person they had ever met. I have friends, family, work, money, a wondrous life that most could only pray for, yet am I happy? This is a question I ask myself on a daily basis and the answer changes almost as regularly.

All the people I knew, have known, could know, throughout my 19 years of life only two of them are here, everybody else is new, is different.

When I first arrived I couldn't help myself. I was upset, lost in this new world and looked for one of the only people who hadn't been directly involved in all of this, the one person with whom I could confide enough to be given a supportive word of encouragement, but who would not make me tell her everything that had happened to me, something I couldn't do no matter how much I might wish too. I looked for my friend Shareen in the Estate on which we both grew up. 19 years of my life, through school and beyond we had been friends, and I found her, in that flat in which we had played, in which we had checked out and chatted about boys. I wanted to scream, shout my joy of finding her here in this one place that she and I had always been, knowing that even in this alternate world she was here, but she didn't know me - why would she. I never existed in this world, her world. We had never met. Instead I was some strange young blonde woman who had turned up out of the blue in desperate need of someone to talk to. She asked me to leave, closed the door in my face as I collapsed in floods of tears, reality finally striking. I was in a strange world, another world, and though that in my recent past is not something that was so strange, the one person who had been my guide throughout was not there to help me, not there to comfort me.

I was found two hours later, hunched on a park bench near the Estate by my 'Dad'. He told me Shareen had called the Police soon after our encounter saying that "a strange young woman had called." He smiled as he told me, "We knew it was you."

It was meant to be a light-hearted quip; instead it hurt me worse than I could ever tell him.

It was then he pulled me into his arms, a move he had never, could never, have expected to do and cradled me as I released my tears of pain, anguish, sorrow and despair into his chest. But within all that pain, there was a part of me that was happy, content for the first time in my short life. Here I was being cradled in the arms of the man I'd long dreamed to be hugged by, dreamed to just glimpse, and I knew then that no matter what was thrown at me, even after the loss of that other man that I felt I could never live without, that no matter what happened I could live, I could survive in this world. It might not have been perfect, it was certainly not ideal, but for the first time in my life I knew I could rely on the support of my Mum _and_ my Dad. I knew that whatever happened there was always someone to talk to, to cry with, to support me in this strange world, and a part of me felt happy, content for the first time in my life.

My name is Rose Tyler, and I am officially dead. This is the story of my life _after_ death.

A/N: Okay, the third in my little series of Another World stories, but this one is different. Oh yes people, this one, unlike all the others, will continue into an on going saga. So look out for future updates that will happen… sometime in the future when I get round to finishing them (it might be a while. This one's been on the computer for about, oh, six or seven months now…).

Anyhew, read, review and, hopefully, enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all affiliated trademarks are the property of the BBC and BBC World Wide. No profit or material gain is being provided to the author (except having people read, and hopefully enjoy his writing, come on people, that's why we're all here!!)**

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She sat with her eyes closed, allowing the darkness to permeate deep into her soul and felt in complete contentment. She had found that in recent months she had begun to do this with ever more regularity.

The darkness allowed you to imagine anything, to imagine you were any place. You could visit distant planets and places that you had visited in your past or you could imagine whole new worlds that you had never been.

You could meet people who you had met long ago, those who you missed and those you would rather never see again, or you could see others that you had never met, would otherwise never have imagined. A crowded room could become a peaceful haven of tranquillity with no one else around you but your thoughts or an empty room could be filled with imaginary people allowing you to never be alone again.

Yes, she had been doing this all the more often recently, and now would be like all those other times, perfect, peaceful, restful, were it not for that incessant low buzzing sound.

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Rose Tyler opened her eyes and squinted against the harsh, bright sunshine beaming in through the large room sized bay windows of her adopted office. Blinking blearily to remove the sleep from her eyes, she looked around.

The office had been given - well lent would be more appropriate - to her six months ago by those in charge of the Torchwood Institute, most notably her Father, to give her a place to think and, more importantly, a place for her to catch up on things that were different in this alternative world compared to her own. She eyed the large wooden bookcase filled with a multitude of historical and political textbooks, files, and papers with not a little suspicion before turning her attention to the desk in front of her. She looked down at the morass of papers that littered its smooth glass top and picked up the cover sheet of the uppermost file and read the first line:

_Information gathered on behalf of the Foreign Office. The Peoples Republic of Great Britain_.

Below there was a large red stamp imprinted in the centre of the page that read:

_TOP SECRET._

She sighed and dropped the paper allowing it to flutter back down to the desk and rubbed at her eyes. She remembered now why she had once again closed them. She didn't care about catching up with what was different in this world; this wasn't the reason she'd 'signed on'.

She wanted to help Torchwood with their work on alien technologies, to help defend and save the world from who knew what coming from who knew where. Instead, she'd found that her last six months had been mostly spent in this office 'reading' these files. She'd read hardly any of them of course, and those she had read she couldn't remember with any meaningful clarity. School had never really been her thing. Academics had never been her forte, she had always much preferred to be involved in 'doing things' rather than reading about them. She sighed again; perhaps this whole Torchwood thing hadn't been such a good idea after all.

Again her attention was caught by the buzzing noise coming from her desk. She started pushing papers and files across its top, many falling haphazardly to the floor just adding to the cluttered mess surrounding her.

Eventually she found the large black box of an old internal speaker system buried under a large card box which had at one time no doubt contained any number of boring and often depressing secret documents. The buzzing emanated from a small speaker on the top of the box that coincided with a small blinking LED. Sighing again, she'd been doing that an awful lot recently; she pressed the button that allowed her to speak.

"Hello?" she said unsurely into the speaker before releasing the button to await a reply.

"There you are" came a familiar Geordie accent through the tinny speaker. "About bloody time you answered, what've you been doing?"

Rose found herself smiling in relief at the familiar, friendly voice. "Reading" she answered.

"Sure" came the unconvinced reply, "and I've been paragliding around the Alps."

Her smile broadened. "Really? So, did you enjoy that?"

"Yeah, it was bloody brilliant" came the sarcastic answer. "So are you actually going to join us up here, or are you going to keep 'reading'?"

She looked at her watch. Crap, she was meant to have met her Dad, Jake and Mickey fifteen minutes ago for a meeting. "Yeah, sorry, I lost track of time. I'll be up in five minutes."

"Make that two" came another voice she recognised, and she blushed even though she couldn't be seen.

"Alright Pete, two minutes" she agreed.

Cursing, she released the button and, jumping up from her seat and turning, she ran toward the door.

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As soon as the lift doors opened Rose burst from within, almost catching herself on the rubber cushioning inside the retreating doors and narrowly avoided a surprised Torchwood technician who was unlucky enough to be passing. Turning, but not stopping in her dash toward her meeting, Rose offered an apologetic glance toward the startled technician who shot her an obtuse glare in reply. Shrugging, Rose continued her charge through the corridors of Torchwood Tower until finally running through the doors of the upper level office. She skidded to a halt before clutching at her chest trying to catch her breath – _she really needed to stop eating so many chips_, she told herself - before glancing around the room.

It had certainly changed from when she had first arrived in this world, and it was considerably altered from the room she remembered from 'her world'. The old glass partition between the main room and the office had been removed allowing for a truly spectacular view of London and the Thames to be available to all the office workers. Moreover, the majority of the room had now been taken over by the administration of the Torchwood Empire, as it had become known by those who worked within the system. Technicians and administrators barely registered her arrival into the room preferring instead to maintain contact with their computer workstations. Rose was never entirely comfortable with the response she received from the administrators, unsure whether they ignored everyone or whether it was just special treatment they singled out for her.

Further back a tinted glass partition had been erected separating off roughly a quarter of the floor space at the rear of the room to be used as a conference centre. Within, a large rectangular table with space for up to twelve people stood centrally filling the majority of the room. It was surrounded by relatively comfortable office chairs, although Rose hated the odd dark pink, almost purple, material which covered them.

At the far end was another long narrow table that stretched the full width of the room, upon which was placed a number of computer workstations. It was surrounding one of these that Rose noticed Pete, Jake and some girl she was sure she'd never met before.

Pushing her blonde hair back and straightening out her clothes, for all the good it would do, she stepped forward and pushed the central tinted glass panel which swung open to allow her access to the conference room.

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"Sorry I'm late" Rose said as brightly as she could without panting, the glass door swinging closed silently behind her. "I lost track of time, there's a lot of small things that're different here y' know?"

After receiving no reply she sighed, and looked at the backs of the three figures surrounding the computer before them. "Well" she started, "at least I'm not the last here. Where's Mickey?"

"He's not coming" Jakes voice echoed back to her in his familiar Geordie twang.

"No?" she asked. "Why not?" before half jokingly adding. "He hasn't been fired has he?" After again receiving no reply she added less assuredly. "He hasn't, has he?"

"No" Jake reassured, finally turning to look at her, "he's down in Devon." After seeing the blank look on her face he added. "He likes to go down there every now and again when he can," he smiled. "Likes to go see Jessie," he added after Rose continued to stare at him uncomprehendingly.

"Oh" Rose replied stiffening slightly, unable to hide the scowl that crossed her face. This was the first she had heard about any 'Jessie' from Devon.

Jake cocked his head to one side. "He not tell you about her then?" he smiled at her, almost laughing at her response.

"No, he hasn't" she hissed, indignantly.

"And now's not the time to either" said Pete, turning to look at his two younger compatriots. "If Mickey wants to tell you about her he can do so at another time" he added more softly. "Right now we've got business to attend to," he said motioning toward the computer. "So if you two don't mind I'd like to get this started, I've a business lunch to get to."

"_Business_ lunch" Rose smiled, immediately forgetting about Mickey, and stepped around the large meeting table to join the others next to the computer. "I'll tell Mum you called her that" she added mischievously

Both Jake and Rose shared a grin whilst Pete blushed and visibly straightened before pulling the knot on his tie uncomfortably. "Yes, well. I, erm…" He cleared his throat and turned toward the final member of the group. "Well, now we're all here. Veronica shall we begin?"

"Very well" the young women agreed primly.

Rose looked down on the seated women before her. She was only about 25 maybe 26, she wouldn't have guessed much older - there did seem to be a lot of mid to late 20's working at Torchwood, Rose thought. Very few were more than about 35 and, apart from Pete, she'd only seen about 3 people she would have said were any older than about 40. Nothing strange about that maybe, but when you consider the size of an operation like the Torchwood Institute and the types of people needed it did seem slightly odd that they were _all_ so young - She had medium length brunette hair that was tied tightly into a bun. Perched on the end of her nose she wore a pair of narrow black-rimmed square glasses, and was wearing a white blouse with a dark blue jacket and short dark blue skirt. She was roughly Rose's height, perhaps slightly shorter even, and would probably have looked quite attractive, Rose mused, if she had actually let herself wear something less formal, and got rid of those glasses, they really didn't suit her. As was, she looked rather cold and gave off an air of superiority.

"About nine months ago one of our satellites took these pictures of the Malaspina Glacier in Alaska" Veronica began in a clipped middle-England accent. As she talked she pressed some buttons on the keyboard and a picture flashed up onto the screen.

To Rose, the picture just looked like a blank white screen; only the occasional shadow caused by the uneven terrain showed that the picture was indeed of land covered in snow and ice.

"As you can clearly see, large amounts of ice had begun to melt at an accelerated rate," continued Veronica. Rose shot an unconvinced look at Jake who just shrugged in reply. "We now understand that this was due in not any insignificant amount to the transfer of peoples and objects between two separate Universes causing…"

"You don't need to give us all the explanation about what happened. We all know" Pete sighed whilst giving a bored glance over at both Rose and Jake.

"Yes, well," stuttered the seated young women before clearing her throat. "As you can clearly see in the centre of screen, there is a darkened section." She pointed toward the centre of the screen with a pen.

Rose peered at the screen. _'Whatever you say'_ she thought, _'I still can't see anything.'_

"Our scientists at the time believed it to be a possible submerged object, most likely debris of some kind, and possibly of extraterrestrial origin. We were not able to confirm nor deny that hypothesis due to our limited resources that were available to us at the time due to our operations dealing with the Cyber crisis. Moreover, we were unable to act quickly enough to take control of the object, not least because it would have required intervening within US territory.

"However, about six months ago, we received these images from a unit working within the UESR and…"

"Wait a second" interrupted Rose. The other three turned toward her and she shrugged. "UESR?"

"United Eastern State Republics," sighed Veronica.

"Right" nodded Rose. "And that would be…?"

"Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Estonia, Georgia…"

"So the former Soviet Union then."

"That is what I said, the UESR" sighed Veronica.

"Oh, I get it" smiled Rose triumphantly. "In this world the USSR didn't collapse, it just changed its name."

"Sort of" shrugged Pete. "The core 15 Countries voted to remain a part of a democratically elected Federal Union, the others split and became individual Countries again. We've got pretty good ties with all of them now, since the end of the Cold War."

"Okay, yeah. That makes sense" nodded Rose before looking down at the seated Veronica who was looking up at her and frowning. Rose flashed her what she thought was a winning smile. "Oh, do please continue."

Veronica scowled obviously not impressed, before turning back toward her screen. "As you can clearly see in this newer image," she continued as if she hadn't been interrupted in the first place, "the ice has melted enough for the leading edge of the debris to become accessible from the ice flats surrounding it."

"It doesn't look much like debris any more" interrupted Jake.

"No, it doesn't" agreed Veronica. "Our scientists now believe that this might just be the tip of a much larger space vehicle. It probably crashed here centuries ago and has since lain dormant having been buried in the ice."

"Well, what's the problem then?" asked Rose. She looked between the three others in the group. "What's that Torchwood motto again? 'If it's alien, it's ours'? or some such. We can just go in and get it."

"That would be all well and good were it crashed in, say, The Hebrides or even Antarctica where there would be no land ownership problems, but this isn't either of those places. This is US territory, and they're not likely to let us walk in and take it."

"But aren't the Americans our allies?" asked Rose.

"Your point?" sighed Veronica arching her eyebrows.

"Well, surely they would at least allow us to take a look at the thing, maybe even offer some advice?"

"Not very likely" the young women muttered.

"Our relations with the US have deteriorated somewhat since the whole Cybus Affair" sighed Pete. "They sort of blame us for the revolution that occurred there shortly afterward."

"Revolution?" stared Rose, her eyes wide. "In the US?" She considered for a beat before adding "again?"

"Well, in a manner of speaking" shrugged Pete ignoring her last comment.

"The Southern States blamed Washington for their inability to act quickly enough to deal with Cybus within the US and the consequent 'upgrade' of many of its people into Cybermen" explained Veronica, matter-of-factly. "So, about 2 years ago, what has become known as the SCS, or Southern Confederation of States, forcefully split themselves from Washington and the Northern United States. Washington was unprepared due to their operations in mopping up Cyber resistance and wasn't able to act quickly enough to stop them. After a few brief skirmishes the SCS armed their militias with ransacked Cyber technology and declared themselves an independent nation. Since then, Washington has been rather unresponsive to outside interference and is rumoured to be actively working to regain control of the South through any means necessary."

"And this ship could give them such means" Pete said, voicing what the others were all thinking.

"Possibly" shrugged Veronica. "But we have no positive information either way. What we have done though, since receiving those images, is to redirect one of our satellites to cover the area. This is our most recent picture."

She pressed a few keys on the keyboard and a new picture sprung up. Where before there had just been ice and a tip of metal there was now heavy equipment, large tents, military vehicles and people milling around the whole area obviously extremely busy. It looked more like an ants nest than a glacier, thought Rose. A big, cold, wet ant's nest … with tents.

"Do we know if they've found anything?" asked Jake.

"Reports from operatives in Washington have confirmed that three months ago they gained access to the vehicle. Shortly afterward four large crates were removed and transferred to Area 51 for investigation and evaluation" confirmed Veronica. "Since then there has been a massive increase in the amount of equipment and manpower working in Alaska with huge numbers of specialists in all scientific fields being transferred to the glacier. We've also had reports that every few days there have been further crates removed from the object, many being transferred to Area 51 and other crates being moved from the Groom Lake facility to other establishments around the US. We've even had reports that Area 51 has seen an increase in security measures since the first crates arrived signalling that something is certainly happening that the US, or at least the US military, wants keeping secret."

"An increase" whistled Jake. "That place is a fortress already."

"Exactly" said Pete straightening, as if coming to a final decision. "And that's why we've got to find out what they've found. Jake, I want you to contact Mickey, tell him his holidays've been cut short. I then want you and Veronica to meet him at Heathrow tomorrow morning. You're already booked on a flight leaving at 0700."

After seeing the smile spread across the young man's face he sighed and shook his head. "Sorry Jake, but you're travelling economy not business. You're on a Jumbo rather than a Zeppelin, the blimps just too slow."

"Oh what!" cried Jake, feigning false shock and horror. "But a plane's so noisy and unrefined. Now a Zeppelin would get us there feeling all refreshed and happy."

"And possibly too late to do anything" Pete finished. "Sorry Jake, but you're going to have to get used to a certain lack of comfort."

"I never get a bloody Zeppelin," muttered the young Geordie before shrugging. "Ah well, it was worth a shot" he said, winking at Rose.

"And what about me?" asked Rose.

Pete paused, just for a moment, seemingly staring at her weighing his options. He seemed torn, almost unsure of what decision to make.

"You…" he muttered. "I want you to stay here and…"

"What?!" cried Rose, Jake and Veronica in unison.

"You have got to be kiddin' me…" started Rose.

"Oh come on Pete…" added Jake.

"But Mr Tyler…"

"The decision is made," said Pete sternly holding his hand up to cut off any further dissent. "You have your instructions now go do your jobs" he finished, turning away from the three of them before picking up a file and began leafing through; clearly indicating the meeting was at an end.

Veronica sighed and left quickly, a file clutched tight to her chest, clearly preoccupied. Jake looked over at Rose who shot a glance back at him which said 'wait for me outside'. Jake nodded his understanding and left soon after.

As the glass partition closed behind him sealing the two Tyler's alone inside, it was Pete who spoke first so as to cut short the angry tirade he knew was coming his way.

"You're not ready for active service yet," he said calmly, turning back to look at the young women he now accepted to be his daughter.

Rose Tyler, how easily he had slipped into the role of being her father. It was, in a manner of speaking, true that the young woman before him was his daughter. Genetically, she was in every respect his offspring; however he, Peter Tyler, had no children. Not yet at least, he corrected himself. Jackie was pregnant and so he would indeed soon become a father, but ever since that first time he had met Rose, back in the mansion, just before the Cybermen, somehow she was just 'right', he was comfortable with her.

As he looked at her now, her face glowing red with anger, he couldn't help but smile. She reminded him so much of her Mother; they both had such fiery tempers.

"How the bloody hell am I not ready!" Rose stormed. "Find me one person in this entire organisation, on this entire planet, who's been as far as I have, travelled as far as I have. Show me one person who knows as much about aliens as I do. Show me one person who…"

Pete held up his hands, hoping to stop her before she got into any proper rhythm. "You're right. On everything you've just said, you're right" he agreed. "But there is one glaring thing you seem to be forgetting."

"What?" she snapped turning to glare at him.

"Rose, you didn't even know that the US had had a revolution and was now two Countries and yet you expect me to send you on a mission over there, and a possibly highly dangerous one at that?" He shook his head. "I'm sorry sweetheart, but that would just be irresponsible."

He watched her features screw up and relax, anger fighting with the common sense point he'd made to her.

"Do you even know who the President of Britain is?" he proffered, trying to find out whether she actually had learned anything about this 'new' world.

She grinned. "That would be Harriet Jones. She was MP for Flydale north and was elected on a promise to improve the state and importance of Cottage Hospitals. Well, for now at least, unless that Saxon bloke wins the next election."

"Lucky guess" he shrugged, throwing the file he held back onto the desk.

"Dad" she started. She really was bringing out all the stops for this, he smiled to himself. "Look, I know I don't know everything about this world, but I'm not goin' to learn anything cooped up in here reading sheets of paper." She thumbed the file he had just thrown onto the desk before placing it back down again and looking at him straight in his eyes. "I need to be out there, doing something. The reason you took me on for this job was because I have knowledge that no one else on this planet's got. Since being here though, what have I done? I've read…"

"Thumbed" corrected Pete.

"_Read_," she repeated, "who knows how many files and folders of stuff, but all I've been given to test my knowledge of alien stuff was one small tube like thing."

"Yeah, what was that?" Pete said, smiling.

Rose scowled. "It was superglue."

Pete grinned broadly. "Oh, that's right. Jake and Mickey thought you were bored so got R&D to fix up some 'alien artefact' for you."

Rose harrumphed. "Well, they could at least of tried to use some alien language on it. All they did was mix Egyptian hieroglyphs with Russian letters."

Pete shrugged. "I wouldn't of been able to understand it."

"You're pulling me away from my point" she prodded tersely.

Pete sighed and nodded. "Do you _really_ think you're ready?"

"Yes" she answered immediately. "Hell, even that Veronica girl thinks I'm ready, and I'm not sure that she really likes me."

"Honestly?" offered Pete. "She doesn't think much about you either way, but she didn't speak up because I said you couldn't go."

"Oh" said Rose feeling rather taken aback, and perhaps a little hurt.

"No" continued Pete seemingly ignoring her hurt expression. "She just doesn't want to go herself. Not her scene. She likes office work. Being sat behind a desk with the information to hand, not so keen on the field stuff." He smiled. "She never really enjoyed it."

"You seem to know her rather well" prodded Rose playfully. "I wonder what Mum would say?"

"Probably that she was some young floozy and that she should know better," agreed Pete. "But I'm not interested in Veronica in any way. At all" he added with emphasis.

"Glad to hear it" nodded Rose. "But I can help her out of her little problem. I'll go, and she can stay behind her desk. There we go, problem solved. Everybody's happy."

Pete looked at her, his eyes seeming to be boring through her trying to fathom out her deepest thoughts. "Are you _sure_ you're ready for this?" he pressed again. "If they find out you're from Torchwood it wouldn't be very pleasant for you." He waited a beat before adding, "or us."

Rose cocked her head to the side and squinted slightly. Pete sighed. "Technically Torchwood shouldn't exist anymore. Hell, us even standing here breaks about 10 UN resolutions."

Rose shrugged. "Since when did that mean anything?"

Pete scowled at her. "I don't think you quite understand. If they find you the British Government will not even admit to your existence let alone admit to sending you there. Torchwood is an illegal operation; its entire charter was torn up because of the Cybus Crisis. We may well have come forward with the guns to save the world from the Cybermen but we also admitted to the world that the British Government not only operated a subversive international organisation capable of infiltrating all levels of internal and external government but that our technology was also far in advance of anything the rest of the world had. The British Government was forced to officially close down the Torchwood Institute and all its operations just to maintain amicable trade with most of our allies, let alone maintaining mutual treaties. Hell, we were almost kicked out of NATO.

"There will be no help for you outside of this organisation if you're caught. The Government knows that we exist, that we do their dirty work for them, but we are expendable." He frowned at her pointedly. "_All_ of us."

Rose paused to look at Pete. She understood everything he'd said, understood the dangers he was talking about. But she'd been through time and space with only one man to rely on whilst here she would have the rest of her group and, hopefully, the rest of Torchwood. And, if nothing else, at least she'd still be on Earth, even if it wasn't exactly hers.

"I'm sure," she said pointedly.

Pete sighed resignedly. "Okay, you can go," he agreed with not a little trepidation.

"Yes" hissed Rose, bringing her fist up to punch the air.

"Don't look quite so happy" added Pete. "There's a 'but' to this." Rose looked up at him, then noticed something in his eyes and her smile twitched slightly.

"But?"

"But only if you work with Veronica during the flight to actually _learn_ about what's going on out there" he said, before shrugging. "Anyway, she's going for a reason. She's your go between with the people we've already got over there."

"But surely I could work with Jake or Mickey on…"

"Veronica, or you don't go."

Rose's shoulders slumped into submission. "Fine" she muttered sulkily.

"Good" smiled Pete. "Now go tell Jake, he's waiting just behind the door trying to look nonchalant and failing miserably."

Rose turned just in time to see Jake turn around and peer over one of the administrators shoulders at their computer, which was met by a few terse words that Rose was glad she couldn't hear through the soundproofed glass. She grinned.

"Hurry up and go now, before I change my mind" said Pete shaking his head.

Rose turned back toward him before moving forward and grabbing him in a hug. "Thanks Dad" she grinned giving him a peck on the cheek before turning away and almost skipping out of the office.

Peter Tyler shook his head and turned to grab the notes he'd left on the table. "Now, how am I going to explain this to your Mother" he muttered to himself.

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Wearing a blue woollen hooded top and dark sunglasses Rose Tyler staggered through the doors into Heathrow Terminal 1 clutching a small Torchwood issue holdall and, more importantly, her head.

When Rose had told Jake that she was going to be allowed to join them on this little jaunt to the US Jake had decided that it would be a good idea to celebrate with a quick drink down the pub, to which Rose had agreed thinking it a wonderful idea. Five hours and six double vodka and Cokes later, not to mention a shooter or 2, and after having only 3 hours sleep – if it could be called sleep – she had been woken and driven to the airport.

She went through the rigmarole that was check-in in a daze; all the while praying that she didn't look as bad as she felt, though judging by some of the looks she received from many of the passing passengers and airport personnel she was sure that she did.

As she finally entered the departure lounge she saw Jake and Mickey stood near the large windows overlooking the runways talking animatedly together. She didn't notice Veronica at first, sat away from the other two with their bags and a laptop perched on her knees. Rose noticed that she occasionally glanced over at the other two before returning to her screen and shaking her head.

Before Rose could put her bag down Mickey noticed her.

"Hey Rose!" he called, motioning toward himself and Jake. "Over 'ere."

Rose felt a little embarrassed as all the eyes in the room turned to look toward her. She slunk over to her friends and grinned sheepishly. As she approached she felt herself feel a bit woozy – the quick movement she surmised, holding her head.

"You alright?" Mickey asked, pulling her toward him and giving her a quick, but friendly hug. "You look like crap."

"Thanks for that" she replied, playfully punching his arm.

He shrugged. "Well, you do." He then turned toward Jake, who Rose noticed was looking a little worse for wear himself, although nowhere near as white as she. "What were you two drinking last night?" he laughed.

Jake shrugged. "Dunno, nothin' much. But I did lose count at about six pints."

"At least you were drinkin' pints, I was on Vodka and Cokes" Rose grinned.

Mickey looked at the two of them and turned up his nose. "What, that was it?" He shook his head. "Judgin' by the look of you two I thought you'd been on an all nighter, but only six," he sighed. "I'm disappointed."

"Well…" Rose started, feeling like she had to defend herself. "That doesn't count the shooters."

"Oh yeah…" said Jake, suddenly turning a pale shade of green.

Mickey grinned. "Well, for a reaction like that I hope they were good."

"Monkey brains… I think" Rose frowned.

Mickey's grin broadened. "Ah, that would do it. Baileys, bad stuff to mix with, but oh so lovely to drink on its lonesome."

The three of them chuckled softly before they heard the sound of padded footsteps behind them, then of someone clearing their throat.

Mickey peered over Rose's shoulder and nodded his head in greeting. "Y' alright boss?"

Rose turned to see her Dad stood behind her. "How'd you get in here?" she asked. "I thought it was passengers only?"

"R. H. I. P." he answered, then seeing the blank look on her face smiled. "Rank has its privileges." He looked over the three of them. "Well, all ready for your little trip then?"

"As much as we'll ever be" Mickey shrugged. "Though a Zep would've been nice."

Pete smiled and shook his head. "Like I told Jake, it would've been too slow. Anyway, from what you tell me of flights in your world, this should be like the lap of luxury."

Mickey shrugged and smiled back. "Yeah, but there's luxury and then there's _luxury_" he said feigning wrapping himself in a blanket with his arms.

Pete just rolled his eyes and shook his head before looking down at Rose. "And how're you feeling this morning?" he smiled.

"Well, you know," she replied tipping her hand from side-to-side in front of her. "So, so."

"Yeah, I'm sure" he nodded knowingly. "What time was it you crawled in this morning? 2 … 3 o'clock?"

"You keepin' tabs on me now?"

"Just be glad it was me and not your Mother. She was up for giving you a mouthful about 'being so bloody stupid'."

"Oh…" Rose replied sheepishly, glancing at the floor.

Pete just shook his head and smiled again before looking down at his watch. "Anyway, I should be heading off. Just wanted to tell you that your accommodation is all sorted at the other end and that you're to meet two of our operatives already working over there at the airport."

"Are we allowed to know who they are?" Mickey asked.

"It's a Melanie Bush and Dorothy Gale McShane. Veronica has all the info, so if I were you I wouldn't piss her off or you might well find yourselves with nowhere to stay."

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem for our Mickey here" grinned Jake. "Ol' Veronica has the hots for 'im so I doubt he'll have a problem finding somewhere to kip."

"Now, now children" Pete chastised. "Let's at least keep this civil until you've got on the plane, yes?" He then placed an arm around Rose and guided her away from the other two. "Now, you're sure that you're ready to do this?"

She grinned and punched his chest playfully. "Don't worry about me, I can look after myself."

Pete gave her a sideways glance and rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to be able to talk you out of not waiting for a bit longer am I" he sighed.

"Nope, not a chance" she replied shaking her head over enthusiastically.

"Well, in that case you just make sure you look after yourself. Don't get into too much bother and, though it may pain you, actually listen to what you're being told." He smiled at her before pulling her into a hug. "You look after yourself, okay."

Rose could almost feel the tears welling up in her eyes, and fought them back. "Course I will" she smiled, hugging him back. "And you look after Mum, 'kay?"

"As if I have a choice," he laughed before releasing her. _When did I get quite so attached to her?_ Pete wondered to himself. "Have a good and safe trip" he said, tapping her lightly on the end of her nose. He then looked over her shoulder before shouting to Mickey and Jake. "Now you two look after her alright?"

"Fine" Jake shouted back. "But who's going to look after us from her?" he laughed.

"Oi!" Rose shouted back turning to glare at the young Geordie.

He responded by grinning and sticking his tongue out at her before continuing to chat with Mickey.

"Well" Pete said finally. "I'll see you when you get back. Veronica will keep me updated about your mission progress whilst you're out there, but remember. Your job is to get in, find out what's going on, and get out. No stupid heroics and no getting yourselves killed. Just in and out, then we'll decide whether there's a threat or not and how to deal with it, understood?"

Rose just smiled and started straightening his tie. "You need to stop worrying about me and go and keep an eye on my Mum."

He smiled warmly at her again before pulling her into one last quick hug and walking away. Rose watched him step over to Veronica and say something. She looked uncomfortable Rose thought and actually looked like she was going to say something back, before thinking better of it.

Pete soon walked off and out of the departure lounge leaving Rose to wonder what it was that he'd told Veronica. However, before she could think about asking her she heard the boarding call telling them to board the plane.

With a little trepidation Rose followed the other three onto the aircraft. This was it, she thought. She was finally going to do something for Torchwood. This was what she had been waiting for for six months and she felt a wave of relief sweep over her … or was it nausea?

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A/N: Okay, that took a while but chapter 1 is finally up! I won't say finally complete because it's looked like this for about 3 months or so now... but there you are.

It's a slow start, but I'm writing a whole new world here, and as you read through hopefully you'll understand why it's taken so long. As Rose says in the above "there are a lot of small differences in this world to ours" so I did a whole different background, that includes world history and Torchwoods activities around the world, so it's taken a bit of time and work to make sure that it all links together properly. The next chapter is actually complete, but it still needs a few tweaks here and there before it's posted so I won't put a date on it, but do look out for it, although it might still take a while!

People might not like my take on Rose, and if that's you tell me, but this is how I saw her throughout the series and I've also tried to include the idea that everything around her is different. Unlike Mickey who's been there for years, she's only been there six months; it'll take time to acclimatise so I hope that's come across.

So now the usual, I hope you've enjoyed this so far, but do please tell me either way so, read, review and hopefully, enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all affiliated trademarks are the property of the BBC and BBC World Wide. No profit or material gain is being provided to the author (except having people read, and hopefully enjoy his writing, come on people, that's why we're all here!!)**

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Rose stared dozily at the laptop computer screen perched on the table in front of her. On it she vaguely noticed the video that was playing quietly to itself. It was something about the formation of the Southern Confederation of States, but the narrator they got to do it must have had the most boring voice of anyone she had ever had the misfortune to listen to, and so she found her mind wandering.

She looked up from the screen and glanced around the small room she was sat in. No one from home would ever have believed her if she had said that a plane could look anything like this. From the moment she had stepped on board it had all seemed like a strangely surreal dream. Although no TARDIS the aircraft still gave that strange impression of being 'bigger on the inside'.

On boarding she had walked through the hatch into the passenger compartment and had almost immediately begun moving toward the copiously spaced brown leather seats before her. She had been told they were in first class and the seats in front of her at this point had so much room compared to any she had seen on any plane before that she had immediately assumed that this must be first class. So much legroom was there between each seat that the tables attached to the seat in front actually had to slide upward and out before it could be reached by the seat behind.

A hand clutching her left arm however had stopped her in her tracks. Turning she had seen Mickey smiling broadly at her and shaking his head. "Sure you wan' a fly cattle class?" he had asked nodding toward the seats she was heading toward.

She had looked at him strangely before noticing that both Jake and Veronica were disappearing through a curtained doorway toward the front of the compartment following a smartly dressed stewardess. Shrugging she and Mickey, who kept looking back at her grinning like a court jester, followed after the others.

They walked up a narrow spiral staircase into a section of the aircraft that had been split into large separate chambers. Stepping through the door through which she had been ushered by the stewardess she could have believed she had just entered a large lounge on board a luxury cruise liner rather than a 747-alike plane. There were two two person black leather sofas as well as two reclining arm chairs, each with small fold down tables attached to one arm, all angled toward a low glass table. All of the furniture was securely fastened to the floor with large restraining bolts to stop movement during the flight or at takeoff and landing.

On the wall the chairs were facing was a large flat screen television and at the far end of the room was a second door which she would later learn led into another smaller 'office' allowing her to work at a desk without interference from the others. Upon seeing the copiously spaced compartment she had turned toward Mickey and Jake and mouthed "and you wanted a blimp?" Their smiles and shrugs merely made her wonder how much more comfort they could've had.

Soon after takeoff, which was a rather strange affair considering she was fastened into a large cushioned reclining leather sofa, Veronica had told them the basics of what their mission was to entail.

They were to meet two Torchwood employees upon arrival at JFK International airport who would take them to some apartments in central New York City. They were to stay in New York for three days – something Rose had to admit she was looking forward to – whilst background checks and data were processed for the next phase of their mission whilst also allowing them time to integrate and acclimatise into their surroundings. Afterwards they would transfer to Nevada and, specifically, a small town called Rachel. From there they would infiltrate Area 51 and try and find out what had been transferred from Alaska and weigh up possible risks to British security and, if possible, acquire relevant technologies.

Not long afterwards, and before breakfast had been served, Veronica had led a disgruntled Rose into the smaller office-like room and had started taking her through the history of the SCS and the current United States as well as the volatile political climate in those two Countries and how they interacted with the rest of the world.

Rose had blanked out soon after Veronica had explained about the revolution – her insistence on going over everything in such minute detail was almost as depressing as the voice currently emanating from her computer – but she had learned that whilst the US was suspicious of anybody entering the Country, especially the British due to their links with Cybus Industries, they had agreed with the rest of the world about the dangers of using the Cybus weapons technology fitted to the Cybermen and so had signed, along with a majority of the industrialised and non-industrialised world, a non-Cybus weapons proliferation treaty and in so doing maintained standard military grade equipment for their armed forces. The SCS however had not and was openly arming their militia units with modified Cyber guns removed and reversed engineered from damaged and destroyed Cybermen. Both sides were constantly at each other's throats making travel into either Country dangerous.

The US had made it abundantly clear that they had every intention of reforming the Union, whilst the SCS had made it just as clear that they had no intention of rejoining with the other States and had recently begun opening independent trade routes with Mexico and other South American countries as well as preparing new defence agreements with other Countries in Europe, to the detriment of its northern neighbour, although few had yet been signed due to concerns about their non-signatory status on the non-Cybus weapons treaty.

Veronica had left Rose alone, much to her relief, soon after breakfast had been served to "give you time to read for yourself." Rose however thought it more likely that she had just wanted to get out of close contact with her or rather, if Jake was right, to get into closer contact with Mickey.

That had been almost two hours ago and Rose looked down at the now cold bacon, eggs and toast she had perched on the beautifully crafted china plate next to the computer. She prodded it with her fork, the now congealed, almost rubbery yolk sticking to the end. She felt her stomach clench involuntarily as the thought of eating anything merged with the thought of what she had drunk the previous night. Damned hangovers, she muttered to herself. Couldn't someone in this universe have invented alcohol without the deleterious effects?

She shook her head to clear her thoughts before running her fingers nonchalantly through her hair. The plane should be landing within the next few hours or so and apart from her deciding that she would rather visit her worlds United States rather than this world's ­– it would certainly be less dangerous she'd decided – she hadn't really learned anything constructive.

She turned off the laptop and stretched her arms above her head. In the now relative silence of the aircraft she was sure she could hear raised voices coming from the other room. Concerned that the others might have been arguing - she wasn't just being nosey, she told herself - she got up quickly and marched toward the door. Throwing it open she couldn't have been more surprised at the scene that greeted her.

On one of the sofas Jake was stretched out, his head leaning against one of the padded arm rests, arguing loudly with Veronica, who was sat in one of the reclining chairs her legs level with the rest of her body, her ubiquitous laptop perched upon her lap. On the low glass table in front of them was the scattering of empty plates from their breakfast as well as a number of half finished cups of tea and fruit juice. They weren't however arguing about anything Rose would have imagined. They were arguing about what was on the television. She looked up to see what looked like a Formula One Grand Prix in progress. A blue car running ahead of a red one as far as she could see.

She looked across to see Mickey sat in the second recliner, the chair leaning back and his legs propped up on a cushion with another cup of tea resting lazily between his legs, completely oblivious to the argument happening not five feet from his left, instead he was totally engrossed in what was on the screen. She crossed her arms and scowled at the three of them.

"So this is what everyone does to prepare for a potentially extremely dangerous mission" she said loudly above the noise of the screaming engines on the television and Jakes raised voice, barely able to cover her incredulousness. "We watch television."

"Oh come on," Jake said looking away from Veronica and propping himself up on his elbows to peer at her from over the back of the sofa. "We didn't get a blimp so we thought we could at least watch the race in relative comfort before we get to the US."

"And none of you have any work to do at all?" she frowned and placed her hands on her hips.

"Actually, no" grinned Mickey turning back to look at her briefly, "only you."

Rose scowled and shook her head in disbelief before gesturing toward the screen. "And you couldn't think of anything better to watch then this?"

"No" replied Jake grinning. "Third best sport in the world this."

"Really" muttered Rose unconvinced. "And the two best would be?"  
"Football and Rugby" Mickey called over his shoulder, once again staring at the screen, before adding, "in that order" pointedly at the end.

Rose heard Veronica harrumph and looked over toward her, but before she could say anything Jake said "that is unless you talk to her over there" he said pointing in Veronica's direction. "She has this strange notion that Formula One beats both Footie and Rugby." He looked up at Rose again as if looking for support. "I know, madness" he said shrugging his shoulders as if Rose had just readily agreed with him instead of looking at him with complete astonishment that had little to do with the actual conversation.

Veronica just rolled her eyes and shook her head pityingly. "Just because I don't think watching a bunch of overgrown children running up and down a field chasing a leather filled bag of air is great entertainment. At least F1 drivers put their lives on the line. All Footie players do is complain when they twist their ankles. At any rate, it's nice to see that not all Torchwood technologies are used to enforce order on the world."

Rose turned and squinted at Veronica. "What Torchwood technologies are used in Formula One?"

"Not just F1" Jake pointedly corrected, as much at Veronica as Rose. Veronica ignored him.

"Carbon fibre would be the most highly utilised" she said. Mickey squinted at her.

"Is that one of ours?" he asked.

"Oh yes" Veronica nodded enthusiastically. "Got it from some spaceship found near the Falklands in the 50's. Took another ten years before anyone could make head or tail of it." She shrugged. "Took even longer before we could use it for anything like this though" she added nodding toward the screen.

Jake just grinned and said to Rose "the technology or the sport's got nothing to do with it. She just likes the idea of men who won't make her look like a midget" he winked before looking back at Veronica and noticed the withering glare she was giving him. "Hey" he said holding up his hands defensively. "You got'ta admit, they're mostly rather vertically challenged." He emphasised his point by holding his arm a short distance above the ground.

Rose sniggered for a moment before noticing the dark scowl on Veronicas face. "Okay then," she said quickly, trying to change the subject. It wasn't that she particularly liked Veronica in anyway – actually she had to admit to a rather perverse pleasure at seeing the slightly older woman looking flustered and angry – rather she really didn't want to get into a conversation as to which sportsmen looked better than others in case Mickey brought up her fixation with a well known England striker. "Who's winning? Michael Schumacher?" she smiled, rubbing her hands.

"Nope" replied Mickey without taking his eyes off the screen.

"Really?" Rose answered looking surprised. "Crashed did he?"

"Retired years ago" shrugged Jake flopping back down onto the seat and staring at the screen briefly. "Shame really" he added, looking back toward Veronica and gestured at her as he spoke. "I bet if he hadn't he would've won a heck of a lot more races than he did, maybe even another World Championship or two."

"You're living in a dream world" she muttered shaking her head. "Unless he was in a decent car he couldn't win without cheating."

Out of the corner of her eye Rose saw Mickey flash her a big grin. She just frowned. Bloody alternate universes, screwed everything up. "So who _is_ winning then?" she offered.

"Fisichella at the moment followed by Coulthard and Button" Mickey said over his shoulder, his eyes once again glued to the screen.

From the corner of her vision Rose could see Veronica had turned to look at her, her glasses slipping down her nose slightly making her look not unlike a stern teacher Rose remembered from school. "So, have you read everything I told you to read then?" she asked, her voice immediately becoming all 'business', the previous frivolous conversation already forgotten.

"Yeah, 'course" nodded Rose overenthusiastically. "Wouldn't be out here otherwise, would I?" she challenged, hoping against hope Veronica wouldn't rise to said challenge.

"Really?" replied Veronica sounding unconvinced. "Well, we better test you then."

"Test?" echoed Rose sheepishly her shoulders slumping slightly in defeat.

"Of course, how else will we know if you've actually learned anything?"

"Ah, yeah. Right" Rose nodded, forcing a grimace onto her face. _Bugger, _she scowled to herself. Veronica might well look like a schoolteacher but she didn't actually have to act like one. "Erm… I think I might just go, well… you know, go and have another look over the stuff again first, yeah?" she added pointing back toward the door behind her.

"No, you don't have to" smiled Veronica innocently. "We'll just test you quickly and then you can relax a bit before we land" she finished, gesturing toward the second sofa.

_Welcome to my parlour, said the spider to the fly_ Rose thought as she looked at the slightly older woman. She knew that Veronica knew that she knew nothing and that she was trying to play up on that. Rose scowled inwardly at her.

"No, it's fine." Rose said, her fake smile still painted on her face. "I better have another look at it again anyway. Just to make me feel more comfortable, you know?"

Veronica nodded once in agreement and smiled sweetly at Rose before turning back toward the screen. '_Bitch' _Rose snarled inwardly as she turned back into the small office, but not before catching Jakes' twinkling eyes, his eyebrows arched in good humoured mocking. She scowled at him in reply.

She soon flopped herself back into the seat in front of the computer and turned on the laptop again. She decided that she really didn't like Veronica.

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"I can see you've really been paying a lot of attention to that" Rose heard a mocking voice echo through the darkness next to her, jumping her out of her slumber.

Her head shot up from her arms, a small trail of saliva stretching from her mouth down to her hand. She rubbed at it as she felt her eyes sting as the light attacked her senses. She must've fallen asleep. Shit.

Blinking quickly in an attempt to focus her blurry vision she turned toward the shape now sitting next to her. Gradually the shape coalesced into the image of Mickey grinning at her like an idiot whilst chewing on a slice of cold toast. How long had he been sat there, she wondered to herself.

She scowled at him. "Shut up" she groaned groggily.

Mickey brought his hands up in defence. "Hey, don't start on me, you fell asleep."

She scowled again and rubbed at her eyes. She hadn't even realised she'd dropped off.

'_That'll teach you for coming in so late'_ the chastising voice of her mother echoed in her head.

'_You can shut up too'_ she told the voice. She blinked again letting the white lights dance across her vision.

"So," Mickey started. "What, if anything, have you actually learned?" he said, twirling the remains of the cold toast in his hand. "'Cos you might have to answer that one soon," he added with a shrug and a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"Honestly?" she asked turning to face him.

"Yeah" he smiled before taking another bite. "Why not."

She shrugged. "Well, for one; I'm tired."

"Really?" he nodded. "Would never of guessed."

She just scowled at him before continuing. "And two, I've learned that this world makes absolutely no bloody sense at all" she sighed leaning forward and rubbing at her eyes again. Mickey's face creased in amusement.

"No, really" she frowned glaring up at him, more than a little perturbed at his response. She thought of all people he would sympathise at least a little with her. "Look, think about it for a minute" she started, intent on making herself understood. "This world is supposed to be basically the same as ours, right? But so much is different here. I mean really, look around you. Even this plane is different. Where in hell would you find a plane that anyone can use that has a lounge with a mini office in it that's flying on a standard commercial flight? This place just doesn't make any sense."

She crossed her arms as if to sulk and Mickey's smile just broadened.

"I know what you mean" he nodded reassuringly, leaning toward her before replacing the crust of the toast, _her toast_ she corrected, back onto the plate. "When I first decided to stay here loads of things didn't make sense, but if you think about it everything works."

"Really?" she asked, arching her eyebrows unconvinced. "Doesn't seem too to me" she huffed, shoulders slumping.

"It does really; it all just comes down to choices" he started whilst leaning forward and picking up a piece of cold bacon. He tapped it on the side of the plate, shrugged, and then stuffed it into his mouth.

"Think about it" he mumbled through chomps. "Things and people are for the most part the same here. There was a Hitler, a Churchill, even a Harriet Jones," he added, almost as an afterthought. "Hell there was even a Mickey, of sorts, a Jackie, a Pete, and even a Rose from what I hear."

"Yeah" Rose scoffed. "A stupid little yappy dog thing."

"Ah ha, exactly" he said, snapping his fingers. "But Rose existed, maybe not you per se, but _a_ Rose Tyler" he explained swallowing the bacon and leaning forward to pick up another rasher. "So think about it in the whole big picture, and take it back a few years.

"The Second World War happened here just as it did in our world. You know, Hitler invaded Poland, and all that Gump, but in this world, at the end of the War, the Western Allies beat the Russians to Berlin, and they didn't split the city. So, that one small difference meant that all those people who would otherwise have lived in East Germany in our world now lived in West Germany.

"They start their own businesses; work in places that would otherwise have been impossible in our world. Meet people that they might never have met. The big difference was that one of those people marketed airships after the War and they became _the_ luxurious way to travel. People here go by airship instead of going on a cruise. It's something so small that's led to something else so much bigger. So, now, we've got a big difference in this world from our world, but it started from something that could otherwise have been so small."

Mickey was grinning like a Cheshire cat as he finished, his eyes sparkling, full of wonder, and Rose couldn't help but be caught up in his enthusiasm and smile along with him.

"Since when did you become a historian?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

Mickey just laughed. "I've been here a long time now and had time to think things through. Everything you expect from our world _is_ here. It may look a little different, but deep down this is still Earth, still our planet. You've just got to dig a little harder sometimes to find the things you're looking for.

"Anything is possible Rose, this world just proves it" he finished before taking a triumphal bite of bacon.

"D'you know who you sound like?" she asked, her face looking wistful.

"I think I might, but is that such a bad thing?"

"No… not really" she said sadly.

"You miss him don't you?" he said, swallowing.

She nodded. "He was my whole life for so long, travelling around in that box of his."

"Well, you never know. You might see him again," Mickey offered encouragingly.

Rose just shook her head. "I won't" she said sounding resigned. "He closed off any access to this world" she sighed, slumping back into her seat.

"That's what he said about me, that I'd never see you again, but here we are sat in this plane that shouldn't exist, together." He placed his hand gently under her chin and pushed her head up to look into his eyes. "Nothing's impossible Rose. You've seen wondrous things. This place, us being together, it should all be impossible, but it happened. The universe is a place of mystery and no matter how much you may think you know you can never know it all."

She stared at him for a moment, looking into his deep brown eyes. He had changed so much since she had known him before, had really grown up, if that was fair, and she had never really given him any credit for it. She smiled warmly at him. "A philosopher and historian. Things really have changed."

He grinned back at her, and gave her a friendly tap on the end of her nose.

She grinned back happy and comfortable for a brief moment, before sighing deeply. "So, changing the subject completely," she started, trying to make the conversation more light-hearted. "Fisichella win the race?"

Mickey's grin broadened even further, if such a thing was possible. "Nope, engine blew a few laps before the end."

"So Coulthard or Button then?"

He shook his head. "Nope, they got taken out on the last lap by a back-marker who slipped on the oil dropped by Fisi's blown engine."

"Who won then?"

"Heidfeld. See, just like the real world, in Formula One anything can happen" he grinned. "It's philosophy one-oh-one."

He leaned over and turned off the computer. "Come on" he said, getting up from his seat and stuffing the last of the bacon into his mouth before offering her his hand. "We should be landing soon; let's get all this stuff packed away. Now the real fun begins."

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The plane landed safely, and on time. _Things really are different here than in my world, _Rose thought to herself.

Customs, however, was far more stressful than anything else Rose could have imagined.

It took them almost an hour to get through passport control. They were being asked continuously why they were coming to America. It was, however, the first time since Rose had met Veronica that she was glad of her company, it was obvious this was the reason she was here. She spoke for all of them, except when they were asked a question directly, in which case they just followed her lead.

"What is the reason for your visit?"

"Business."

"What type of business?"

"Commercial."

"Who are these people with you?"

"They are my staff."

"You're very young to have staff."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"What business are you in?"

"Computing."

"What's in these bags?"

"Computers, part of our new product line. Demonstration units mostly. That and clothes."

"Can you show us?"

"If you like. Are you after a new computer?"

And on it went, over and over again. If Rose didn't know already, she could well have believed that Veronica really was selling computers; she seemed to be able to answer any question posed to her about any part of them, or any part of her imaginary business.

Eventually they were let through and headed for arrivals to collect their bags. Rose walked at the back of the group and could just about overhear Veronica talking to Mickey, her prim middle England accent only just audible over the noise of the bustling crowds.

"We're to meet our contacts here; they'll then take us to our apartments."

Mickey nodded before asking, "Do we know where they are exactly?"

"I don't" Veronica said looking slightly embarrassed. "Torchwood purchased some empty apartments a while back; it was easier than trying to get hotel rooms every time they sent anyone extra out here. They're nothing fancy, but we probably won't spend much time there anyway" she shrugged.

After collecting their bags they moved through to the main concourse. Rose looked about with feigned interest. She could hear the sound of raised voices coming from the direction of the check-in desks and leaned across to see. There was a large group of irate passengers surrounding all the desks and arguing loudly with the staff who were desperately trying to bring some form of order to the ever-growing morass of angry bodies.

She looked up at the arrival and departure boards to see if that would help explain the open hostility that people seemed to be showing toward the struggling airline staff. Sure enough, all the uppermost incoming and outgoing flights were showing -_cancelled_- and more were being steadily added to the growing list.

Rose was about to say something to the others when she heard Veronica's voice.

"We're to meet Mel here" she stated to the small group, whilst keeping her eyes looking out through the milling, angry and growing mob of people.

"I hope you know what she looks like, 'cos I haven't a bloody clue" Jake muttered whilst he looked about the busy concourse.

"Lucky I know what you look like then" came a voice from behind them. Turning Rose saw a woman striding toward them, forcing her way through the jostling crowds.

She was about 5' 6", slim yet athletic in build with long straight shoulder length red hair. She wore a tightly fitting white tee shirt and black jeans, with a red waist length leather jacket.

"Mel" Veronica nodded in greeting toward the older woman.

Mel grinned at her. "Vee, nice to see you again, good trip?" she said giving Veronica a quick, but warm, hug. She then looked over the small group. "Welcome to the United States" she smiled stretching her arms theatrically wide. "Come on," she said, nodding her head back the way she'd come, "it's time to leave. There's a lot happening, and this isn't the place to fill you in, and there's a lot to tell." With that she turned away and began striding purposely back through the busy crowd, Veronica following close behind.

Mickey turned to look at Rose and Jake. "Well, that was short and sweet."

Rose just shrugged. "Come on" she said at last. "We better follow them before we lose them completely in here. Doesn't look like they're hanging around and I can't say I really blame 'em. I wouldn't wan' a hang round in here for much longer either." She motioned toward the angry looking crowd. "Looks like they're about to kick off."

The three of them moved to follow the others through the crowd. As they left Rose gave the arrivals and departure board one last glance just as the last of the flights blinked to show -_cancelled_-.

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After forcing their way through the crowds of angry passengers the three of them soon found Veronica and Mel just outside the terminal building. They both seemed to be staring off into the middle distance and as Rose caught up to them she looked in the direction they were facing.

Two burly men in grey overalls were pushing what looked to be an oversized luggage trolley with a large wooden crate perched on top. On the side of the crate, printed in large black letters, were the words: _Property of the United States Government._

"What do you reckon that is?" she heard Veronica ask Mel.

"Not sure, and to be honest I'm not convinced that I want to know" the older woman sighed before continuing toward her car, the others trailing behind her.

Rose was surprised to find that Mel drove a large black Range Rover with blacked out tinted windows and chrome alloy wheels. Somehow it didn't seem the vehicle of choice for the svelte Mel to be driving. Maybe some form of cheap Roadster or something, but not this. She wondered whether Mel was a Mother and had just got used to driving her kids to school in a 4x4.

"So, the Chelsea tractor yours then?" she asked smiling whilst stepping in behind the older woman.

Mel turned and offered her a lopsided grin. "Well, it's Torchwoods technically. But who am I to complain about a free company car?"

"Well, at least it's British" Rose offered. "Would've thought they'd of given you some American truck to drive just so you fit in though."

Mel chuckled. "This is the United States. They wouldn't care if you turned up in a Mercedes, BMW, or Land Rover, so long as it's big. Now, they might look at you a bit funny if you turned up in a Mini, but even then it wouldn't last long" she shrugged. "It's just like at home, no-one cares so long as you don't bother them."

Her face suddenly fell and she started looking around them like a nervous meerkat sensing danger. "Come on" she said conspiratorially. "Everyone get in. This place isn't going to be safe for much longer and we've got'ta get moving."

Rose looked over at Mickey and Jake who just shrugged at her in reply before climbing in the car.

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Rose tried to grab the seats in front of her in an attempt to steady herself as the Range Rover swerved violently and aggressively through the busy freeway traffic.

"So" Rose started, trying to keep her voice calm, contrary to how she felt. "Why exactly are you attempting to kill us?"

She cringed as the vehicle again lurched to the side as Mel switched lanes at the last moment to avoid a slower moving pick-up truck in the outside lane. Rose saw the older woman's eyes flicker up from the road briefly to glare at her through the rear view mirror.

"We've got to make sure we've got a decent distance between us and the airport just in case we're being followed," she said as if that explained everything.

"Oh" replied Rose, still at a loss. "So, driving down the freeway at about ten times the speed limit and narrowly avoiding an accident is the way to avoid being followed?" She glanced over at Mickey. "Huh, I'll have to remember that one."

Mel's eyes again flickered to look at the young blonde before softening slightly. The roar from the engine reduced as she lessened the pressure on the accelerator and the speed began to fall to a more normal level.

"There, that's better isn't it?" Rose smiled at Mel before looking back at Mickey and Jake who were sat in the back of the car on either side of her, both their faces looking ashen whilst Mickey's knuckles had turned white where he had been gripping the door handle so hard trying to maintain his balance.

"So, why exactly did we need to charge away from the airport hoping we weren't being followed?" Rose asked turning back toward the front. "And why would anyone be wanting to follow us anyway, surely they don't know who we are?" She paused before adding almost as an afterthought, "yet."

"I guess this is as good a place as any to fill you guys in on what's been happening around here" Mel shrugged. "I take it you noticed the difficulties getting through customs?" she asked.

"You could say that" Rose nodded. "But I just figured that 'cause they don't seem to like the Brits much around here at the mo that a flight from London would just get that type of aggro" she shrugged.

Mel nodded. "Well, that was partly it" she agreed. "But more so was the fact that about fifteen minutes before your flight landed all aircraft within the continental United States were grounded with immediate effect and all incoming flights were redirected to airports outside of the U.S. You should be in Canada right about now."

"Oh right, I get it" Rose agreed. She then saw Mel's eyes look up at her through the mirror, a look of astonishment on her face. Rose shrugged. "Okay, no I don't" she admitted. "So how did we land then?"

Mel nodded her head back toward them. "Under your seat is a large radio transmitter. When we realised what was going on we activated the transmitter and blocked all incoming signals to the Control Tower which would have informed them of any changes to flight plans. Because of that the Control Tower allowed your flight, and a couple of others before and after you, to land at the airport whereas they should only have accepted flights that had recently taken off." She smiled. "As you can imagine, there was all hell breaking loose when they found out about it and I was more than just a little concerned that they might trace the signal back to this vehicle, hence our quick escape."

"That makes sense" Rose nodded.

"Yeah, that works" Mickey said next to her, leaning forward to speak to Mel. "But why exactly did they order all flights grounded?"

"Now that's the million dollar question" shrugged Mel. "You see, the U.S. only responded to the SCS which grounded all flights first, but they went one step further. The SCS's shut down all borders. There's nothing going into or out of that Country at all." She leaned over to Veronica who was sitting in the seat next to her. "Vee, open the glove box there and see if you can find a disc marked Tokio TX, final test. It should be next to a small flashlight."

Veronica arched her eyebrows and smiled at Mel as she leaned forward. "You've gone native," she observed, scuffling about in the glove compartment. "Flashlight is it now?" she said, pulling out what looked like a DVD before closing the compartment. "I always thought it was a torch."

Mel shrugged, taking the disc from Veronica. "I've been here almost twenty years on and off, gi' me a break" she said before leaning forward and pushing the disc into what looked like a DVD player.

She leaned back slightly to address those in the back. "You may want to remove the covers on the back of the headrests otherwise you won't be able to see the screens."

Both Mickey and Jake leaned forward and pulled the covers off, dropping them lightly to floor.

"Why'd you bother with them?" Mickey asked. "Trying to stop people from seeing they're there and nicking 'em?"  
"Nothing so mundane. Just helps keep the dust off" Mel shrugged, before adding "also no-one really sits in the back." Her voice then hardened slightly becoming very serious. "This is why we think there's so much trouble going on. We received this footage about an hour before everything kicked off. I'll warn you now, it's not for the feint hearted."

"Anyone with a medical condition look away now" Mickey muttered.

"Something like that" agreed Mel, although there was something in her tone that made Rose shudder.

Mel pressed a button on the player and Rose could have sworn the vehicle actually got darker inside in order to make the screens clearer. She looked at the windows and they did indeed seem to have become a deeper shade of black.

Mel, obviously seeing her reaction in her mirror said "don't worry; it's not your imagination. We've just got to make sure that no one outside the vehicle can see the screens so the tinting becomes ever more…well, tinted."

Feeling slightly more confident that she wasn't going crazy, Rose looked back at the screen which now showed what looked to be an official looking seal over which was written in large blue letters:

_Final Test Phase, Mark III Project. Tokio, TX._

"We have no idea what the Mark III Project is" Mel said, anticipating the question on everyone's lips.

The screen then flashed to what looked like an almost abandoned town. The central street had a few wooden houses on either side, but overall it looked fairly desolate and overgrown. As the camera moved down through the street information began scrolling down the sides of the screen.

_Tokio, TX._

_Population 60._

_Lat: 33.182296._

_Lon: -102.564204._

The camera continued moving forward until, in the distance, Rose could see a car driving toward them, the wisps of sand being blown up by its passage marking it out from the background. After a moment the picture seemed to jump and the vehicle moved from being in the distance to being close enough that she could see that it was a large red four-door saloon. Soon after a voice track started playing over the images on the screen. It was a cool, calm, dispassionate voice, merely providing a narrative for the events that were occurring rather than showing any kind of real interest in proceedings.

"_Target 1 selected. Initiate first test."_

The camera panned across slightly as if selecting a target on the vehicle. All seemed strangely calm for a moment before a high-pitched echoing shriek burst from the speaker. At the same moment a ball of luminescent green energy shot into view from just off screen before striking the vehicle on its right front wheel, the explosion incinerating the whole front right section.

The resulting fireball seemed to lift the whole front of the vehicle up into the air before it slammed down heavily onto the ground, swerving as the driver fought in vain to regain some element of control before grinding to a sliding halt in a cloud of dust and sand. A moment later the driver's door swung open and a man staggered out clutching at what looked to be a bloody left leg.

"_Target 2 selected"_ the narrators cold voice echoed out from the speakers.

The man seemed to look up directly at the camera, which in turn seemed to zoom in in order for those watching to see the man's face although the distance, Rose was happy to see, denied them that ability. The man shouted something Rose couldn't work out then seemed to try and turn and run away from the camera, but before he was able to limp more than a few paces that awful high-pitched shriek echoed out from the speakers again and Rose watched in horror as another green ball hurled itself toward its victim. It slammed into him, his whole body becoming luminescent, and he was thrown into the air before landing face down on the dusty ground.

Again the picture jumped and the camera was now looking straight down at the man. A heavy black boot moved into the corner of the screen and kicked at him until it was able to roll him over. Rose looked down at the face of the victim, her insides gripped with a mixture of horror and disgust as she saw the pained and shocked dead face staring up at her from its lifeless corpse.

She covered her mouth and turned to look at Mickey who was still staring at the screen in disgust. He looked almost ready to wretch. Rose looked back at the screen when she again heard the voice track speaking.

"First test successful. Initiate second test." 

The screen jumped again, this time it was moving toward what looked to be a local convenience store with two petrol pumps and three parked cars outside. Inside the store Rose could see what looked to be a handful of people, no more than six, none of whom were looking toward the camera. There were four women, of differing ages and sizes, and two men, one large and muscular, the other a young store clerk. Rose felt the urge to scream at them, to look at what was coming. To run away as fast as they could, but she knew it would make no difference.

"_Targets selected. Initiate multiple target engagement."_

As the camera moved ever nearer, almost to the door, one of the women inside looked out of the large glass windows and saw whatever it was behind the camera. She screamed, immediately eliciting all of those in the store to look at what it was that had caused her such distress. Two of the women joined their companion, the other took a step back and her hand moved low out of sight.

The muscular man made the same movement as the women, whilst the young store clerk reacted fastest of all. In no time at all he was pulling a large pump action shotgun out from under the desk and training it at whoever was behind the camera.

The camera swung quickly toward the young man and zoomed in, almost as if selecting a target. As the young man raised his gun, but before he had a chance to fire, the shrill shriek burst forth again as a green ball of energy streaked across the screen, through the glass, creating even more noise and confusion as it seemed to burst and shatter in slow motion after the blast which had already penetrated it, and struck the young man with such force that he was lifted bodily into the air and thrown backward before slamming into the back wall of the store. He hit it so hard that most of the stock on the shelves above him fell on top of him as he crumpled to the ground, obviously lifeless, eliciting even more screams from the three already hysterical women.

The second man and fourth woman however responded to the attack even before the poor boy had landed. The explosive sound of gunfire rang through the speakers as shot after heavy shot was fired toward whatever was behind the camera.

The camera swung toward the man first, the shrill sound that Rose now dreaded again echoed out as another ball of energy burst forth. Moving with a speed that seemed almost impossible for a man of such size he jumped to his side, continuing to fire as he did so, the blast narrowly missing his shoulder and exploding heavily into the shelves at the far side of the store causing more debris to start flying.

As the camera moved to follow the man Rose saw a movement in the corner of the screen. At the same moment whoever was holding the camera obviously saw the same movement.

It swung quickly in its direction and Rose saw what looked to be one of the screaming ladies throwing her car door open, climbing in and starting the engine. In the background the sound of gunshots continued to ring out, but these were ignored. Instead Rose watched in fascinated horror as the camera zoomed in toward the fuel tank of the car and, as the woman gunned the engine to start to move away, throwing up dust and sand as its wheels spun attempting to gain purchase, the green blast burst forth striking the cars fuel tank.

The fireball that followed was massive, the fuel from the car igniting instantly. The vehicle was tossed lightly into the air like a pancake before striking one of the petrol pumps spilling more fuel all over the forecourt. As it landed the now flaming vehicle narrowly avoided the gushing clear liquid that was quickly covering the ground.

The camera zoomed in on the liquid that was slowly moving toward the flames before it began retreating backwards. As it did so it swung to look back over at the people in the store, who themselves had now seen what had happened and had begun moving toward the exit to the building.

A rapid succession of energy blasts pinned the people inside the store as they desperately tried to avoid being hit. As the camera continued to retreat the energy blasts continued to scream forth trapping the people who responded with an occasional gunshot, though they were clearly almost out of ammunition judging by their limited response.

Eventually whoever was controlling the camera decided that they had moved far enough away and stopped firing at the building.

Understanding what was going to happen two of the women and the large man began charging out of the store, the third woman obviously in such a state of shock that she couldn't move. Unfortunately before they were more than a few paces out of the door a further rapid succession of green energy blasts struck forth, igniting the already spraying fuel. The explosion that followed was immense, making the previous explosion of the car look like a small back garden bonfire.

The entire area, shop, petrol station, people, all burst into flames as a giant fireball burst skyward like a miniature Hiroshima, sand, ash, and pieces of metal and concrete fell around throwing up yet more debris.

"_Targets eliminated. Test successful. Initiate final test" _informed the voiceover.

Rose felt sick and furious at the same time. The calm voice relaying no emotion over what had happened and merely planning on continuing this wave of destruction in the name of a 'test'. She felt ill.

The camera had now jumped to what looked like the front of a house. It approached a blue wooden door which seemed to open before it. Rose assumed that someone, or something, out of shot had pushed it open, but she couldn't be sure.

Inside the door opened to allow access to a long hallway, a flight of steep stairs leading upwards to the left of the screen and an open doorway to the right. As the camera advanced it panned right to look through the door, but there was nothing clearly noticeable inside the room barring a television that looked to be showing some daytime soap opera. The camera rotated back to look in the direction it was travelling as it approached the open doorway at the end of the hallway.

As the camera moved through the doorway into what looked like a large open plan kitchen there was a loud explosion to the right. The camera rotated quickly to be confronted by a woman no older than her mid-thirties holding a semi-automatic shotgun of some kind.

She began a rapid volley of shots against whoever was holding the camera. As she did so, the voiceover again spoke, although this time is sounded more like a radio transmission that was picked up during recording rather than added later like the previous statements.

"_Test weapon setting 2."_

There was a loud crackling hiss and the whole picture seemed to be filled with a strange eerie glow. The woman writhed in agony and she soon dropped the weapon before collapsing to the floor next to it.

The crackling sound stopped and the light in the room seemed to return to normal.

"_Check her."_ The voice demanded.

Moments later two burley men clad all in black with black balaclavas covering their faces stepped in front of the camera and, each grabbing an arm, hoisted the woman roughly into the air. She hung limply between them; the only sign of life from her body was her barely noticeable shallow breathing and her unblinking eyes staring out in both fear and anger.

"_Any motor ability?"_ asked the voice.

One of the men shook his head before looking over at his companion. As if to prove the point they both let go of the woman's arms and, with no ability to support her weight, she crumpled heavily to the ground with a loud bang, a strange groan of pain emanating from the now grounded heap.

"Completely paralysed" one of the men commented gruffly.

Suddenly there was a loud thudding sound from behind the camera, which swung around to look back down the hallway just in time to see a young boy, not more than about ten, leap off the bottom of the stairs and go charging outside. The movement from whoever was holding the camera was instantaneous. It hared down the hall until it was out in the doorway, the young boy now halfway down the street.

"_Test weapon setting 1"_ commanded the unseen voice over the radio.

Again the loud crackling hiss echoed around and the picture again seemed to glow. In the distance Rose watched the boy running and then suddenly his legs just seemed to buckle and collapse beneath him bringing him crashing hard down into the sandy ground, sliding to a stop.

The picture jumped and the camera was now looking down at the young boy who was crying and trying to pull himself along with his arms. A man dressed like the others stepped into view and picked the boy up easily.

The boy tried furiously to fight the man off, but he was held in a vicelike grip, his legs swinging uncontrollably beneath him.

The man, who wore a black balaclava to hide his face, turned toward the camera.

"Paralysed, like his Mom" he said gruffly. He then looked down at the child. "Well, his legs are at any rate" he added, holding the writhing child at arm's length. He then let go of the boy and he collapsed to the ground, letting out a wail of pain.

"_Prepare to abandon the area,"_ the disembodied voice said. "_No witnesses."_

The next few scenes Rose couldn't watch. It showed the systematic annihilation of everybody in the town. Some fought back with firearms, others tried to run, but all were cut down horrifically by the screeching green balls of energy.

"Turn it off" Rose heard Jake next to her say. She looked at him. He looked almost ready to be sick.

The screen went blank as Mel switched off the player.

"The final count of lives were, out of a population of 60, 50 people are killed in that video, including a whole fire crew who must have responded to the explosion of the gas station" she said, her voice low.

"And what about that Mum and her kid?" asked Rose.

"We think they were captured and taken with, whoever it was who orchestrated that 'test'. They actually go on to search the upstairs of that house and find two young girls, twins probably, about 6 years old." Mel sighed. "Their brother probably went for help."

For a moment silence fell on the car, the events of the video sinking in to all of them. Veronica was the first to break the silence.

"Do we have confirmation whether that recording is accurate, or even truthful?"

"What?!" Rose spluttered. "Did you just see the same video that we all saw?"

Veronica sighed. "Indeed. And difficult as it was to watch, we have to know whether it is an accurate portrayal of events or whether the whole thing was orchestrated for our benefit, or even some other nefarious reason."

"What, you think someone would make something like that up just to get our attention?"

"It's been done before" shrugged Mel sadly. "But honestly, our sources say it's accurate and we've not heard anything to the contrary. Actually, if you put it into the context of recent events, what with the complete shutdown of air travel around the U.S. and the closure of the SCS's borders it does seem to match the available evidence."

"Agreed" Veronica muttered almost sadly. "Do we have any knowledge about your source?"

"Nothing much" Mel sighed. "We just know them as P.B. All we know is that they work at the Pentagon, nothing else." She smiled thoughtfully. "To be honest, they probably don't even know who they're leaking the information to, and you can probably bet they don't think it's to a secret foreign agency. They probably believe they're sending it to some 'freedom group', we've seen a lot of those springing up recently, what with the Cybus affair and all."

Veronica nodded seemingly considering her next move before leaning her head back so she could talk to everyone in the back of the vehicle.

"Any questions about what we just saw?" she asked.

"About a hundred" Jake muttered. "But none I can put into words about now."

Veronica nodded her understanding before turning back to Mel. "Has this been sent to Torchwood for verification?"

"Dorothy should've done it by now" Mel nodded in reply. "We should know what they want us to do by the time we get to her apartment."

"I thought we were getting dropped off first?" Mickey queried leaning forward to talk to her, happy for any change of subject.

"Change of plans" Mel shouted back over the sound of the engine as she again started to accelerate. "This one video could completely change why you guys are here."

Rose heard Mickey mutter something under his breath, but she couldn't quite work out what he said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose asked, turning to look at him. He looked at her for a moment before turning to look out the window.

She looked about her and everyone seemed to be purposely looking away from her, avoiding eye contact.

She sighed. "Look" she snapped. "Will someone just tell me what's going on?" she demanded.

She felt Jake move next to her and she turned to face him.

"It's quite likely that our mission has probably changed from a simple reconnaissance one to a seek and destroy." He sighed again uncomfortably. "In which case, we've all just gone from getting all the help we need to being highly expendable."

Rose gulped and turned to look at the faces of the people around her, all of whom looked in deep contemplation. _Good choice for a first assignment Rose, well done_ she thought to herself.

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A/N: Well, that took a while didn't it. This chapter has been on my computer for months now, but it's taken a lot of tweaking to reach a point that I'm happy to release it. Are there still problem, probably, but not so many that it makes me cry.

Anyhew, enough of that. Hopefully you'll read, enjoy AND review (come on people, it's just polite. Almost 500 hits and 2 reviews...). Hope you are enjoying it so far, and sorry it took so long and it seems to be going quite to slowly. It gets more exciting later, I guarantee it!


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